


Playtime

by Skybirdday



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Adopted Children, Children, Children Memories, Father-Son Relationship, Fun, Games, Gen, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26428387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skybirdday/pseuds/Skybirdday
Summary: Young Corrin asks Jakob to play with her.  How does one do that?
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Playtime

**Author's Note:**

> I felt Jakob acted older than he is when I first played the game. What was his childhood like?   
> I started out with a few paragraphs about four years ago, stopped and kept it before starting up again.   
> Here’s the result. Enjoy!

He was used to hiding. Children should be quiet, at least that was what his papa said. Had he not been quiet enough? Is that why his parents had abandoned him five years ago. He was quite small and thin unlike Flora and Princess Corrin, who were taller and more robust than he. He wished that he would grow up to be taller, elegant, and refined like his parents had been.  
Now, he hid for a different reason. Princess Corrin wanted him to play blind man's bluff with her and Flora except without the blindfold. But what was the purpose of hiding somewhere and then someone seeking you out. It made no sense.  
“Trouble, Jakob?” came a gruff voice.  
Jakob looked up. “No, Sir Gunter.”  
Gunter smiled at the boy. “Then why do you look confused?”  
“What is the purpose of this? First you hide and the person called it comes to seek you out.”  
Gunter frowned. “It’s a game, Jakob. Surely, you must have played games even by yourself. Did you not have any imaginary friends? Sometimes it’s a young friend, or an older adult and sometimes even an animal that only you can see and talk too.”  
Jakob shook his head. “Papa and Mother started me on a proper schedule with the servants mostly. I could dress myself by my first year. Impressed the servants, but it made my nanny sad. I do not know why. I still remember it. Wake up at dawn, dressed by an half hour. Breakfast usually oats and milk or porridge. Sometimes I would get berries if I had been good. Then lessons, at first reading and etiquette when I was little, then history, laws, and how to be a gentleman as I got older. Lunch halfway through the day with a brisk walk through the small garden to get out any restless energy. I had a tendency to fidget when I was small and the walk helped. After that, a review and I would have a test on what I learned. Then more lessons until I went to bed. Sometimes Papa or Mother would stop by to check on me. I am afraid that I would lose my focus when they would arrive because I would see them so seldom, causing Papa to yell at me or Mother to frown and declare that I needed to “Try harder.” The servants and my tutor would tell them of my progress or lack thereof.”  
“Did not your parents tutor you at some point?”  
Jakob shook his head. “Oh, no. That was left to the servants. My nanny, who had been also my Mother’s nanny, tutored me until I was five years of age. Then my father’s manservant took over. He had been a tutor in his youth and had a hand into making of several young aristocrat which I was to become however minor I would be. I fear I have failed them in some way. That is why I am here in the Northern Fortress.”  
“Speaking of your parents, were they ever proud of you?”  
Jakob smiled. “A few times. When I learned to read book by a year and a half, Papa smiled at me for the first time. I believe he was quite pleased. When I was five and passed the basic etiquette lessons, Mother invited me to tea. I am pleased to say I did not drop my cup nor spill a drop of tea. Mother even called me “Her Little Gentleman’. I also excelled in some of the languages that I learned when I paid attention. Father briefly used me a few times as a translator for some meetings. The foreigners were impressed by my basic grasp of their languages. But my Papa was embarrassed. After that, I was told that would be coming here. I took it calmly. I did not cry or throw a tantrum. Perhaps in this, I did something to please them one last time.”  
“Jakob, how old are you?”  
“I am nine years, almost ten.”  
Gunter knelt in front of him, placing his hand on Jakob’s shoulder. “Listen to me. You are a child, Jakob. Not a young man nor an adult no matter what you think or were taught. You may have fun at times. However, your purpose is to become a servant to Princess Corrin while she is here and possibly for the rest of your life. You will serve and learn to protect her. I am here to teach you how to do your duties.”  
“Oh, will I serve tea? Nanny taught me how to make a decent cup.”  
Gunter frowned. “Did you watch the servants as they worked?”  
Jakob nodded with a smile. “Also, they let me serve them tea or other meals. It was quite fun.”  
Gunter chuckled. “That will be something that you will doing quite often, either serving meals or tea and cleaning up after. It will be tiring and stressful at times, especially if you rise to be a master butler, managing all the servants.”  
Jakob nodded. “As long as I serve a purpose.”  
Then a voice said “Gunter, Jakob, there you are. We couldn’t find you.”  
Jakob frowned, turning to the speaker. “But, Princess Corrin, we were right here the whole time!”  
“Be nice, Jakob,” said Gunter.  
Corrin frowned. “Did you not have fun?”  
Jakob frowned. “Is that what that was? Sir Gunter said it was a game.”  
Corrin frowned. “You don’t know how to have fun?”  
Gunter turned to the little girl. “Princess Corrin, Jakob was not raised to have fun, but to serve a purpose. He has found a new purpose here. He will serve you.”  
Corrin giggled. “Yay, we have more time so I can teach him to have fun!”  
“What?” said Jakob.  
Gunter smiled. “Children, how about a new game?” Then he held up a leather ball. “We can toss this to each other. If you are unsure how, I can teach you to how to throw it properly.”  
Even Jakob joined in the cheers.

END


End file.
